Quotes From Today's Women's Basketball Media Day
Oct 17, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 17, 2001
On improving the game..."I think that we have improved significantly in our perimeter game. KariHanson our 5-foot-8 guard, from Bismarck, North Dakota, is explosive and has theability to shoot the jump shot and has instincts to get to the rim. MeganMahoney, our 6-foot wing player from Black Hawk, South Dakota, brings thatdimension as well. Both of those two players have improved significantly inour ability to attack the basket. We have also, with both of the players haveimproved our athleticism. As you indicated our perimeter game has been astruggle relative to being versatile and having the ability to attack. Ourplayers are attack-minded players and it is something that we sought out inour recruitment and we are extremely excited in bringing those two in. I amalso very pleased at this early point in the season seeing in practice fromthose two in particular."
On Laurie Koehn on being ready to play..."She is close to being ready. She is recovering from an injury right now, hersecond injury she has suffered from since this summer. We do have good news onthat front, she is very close we believe. Now, anytime you have a bone relatedinjury there is a lot of uncertainty relative to the healing, the time frame.Everything indicates at this point that she is significantly better and if wewere to be very optimistic we will say that we will be able to integrate herinto practice in the next three weeks or so. We are feeling extremely excitedabout that and so is Laurie. Certainly when she takes the floor it will beafter 12 months of being away from the game. I won't be putting a lot ofpressure on her early because I do think that it will take some time to getsome of her rhythm back and to get confident, both physically with her timingas it would be with any player coming back. With Laurie's case, it will be herfirst opportunity starting on the floor as a Division I player. So I expectthere is going to be a little bit of learning of time and adjustment necessaryjust to gain that confidence in her body. My expectation is that she will be aphenomenon player, not just in our program, but in our league."
On players frame of mind after an extended injury..."I do think for some players that you do have concern of their mentality.Those are the players that tend to be less committed and playing for otherreasons. With Laurie Koehn, there has never been any question what so ever inher losing any of her spark, intensity, or passion for the game. In fact, Ithink that it has overflowed at times because of her inability to be out thereon the floor and to do what she loves. Consequently I think from what we haveseen from Laurie at six o'clock in the morning sitting on a box shooting shotswhen everybody else is still asleep. So, I have never worried about her in thatrespect. Certainly, I do think there are some players that deal with injuriesbetter than others. Laurie has demonstrated to us incredible strength andpassion for the game."
On Laurie not being able to pick basketball back up..."I think that any time you have a player going through a long term injury andlose them for a year, when you make that decision to red shirt them, I think alittle bit like a parent, you always worry what's going to happen. All on allwe have had assurances from our physician that Laurie is going to come back.The question was more of the time frame going to be. We tend to be verypositive and persistent in our outlook, but time can sometimes be your enemywhen it stretches on and on. We certainly had every faith that she was goingto come back. With any bone related injury there is going to be when. That wassomething that caused fear in us at times. When is she going to come back moreso if she will come back, it's just the when. I think that the further you arealong in the season and the more you have recovered from the injury the morethe when becomes the primary thought."
On what to expect from the players this season..." I think when you look at Nicole Ohlde, that she is one of the most talentedplayers in this league. I believe because of her age that she is one of themost talented players in the country. She speaks volumes with her intensityday-to-day. It's in her game situation, when she can step up and to want tomake big plays. I also think that it's in her ability to be a versatileplayer. She is mature beyond her years in her ability to manage a game. Ithink when you take that leadership by example, leadership by virtue ofconfidence and also having the ability to back it up is as big of a lead asany of which we have in our gym right now. As we work to become moresuccessful as a ball club in this league, the bottom line is you have to bemore talented and more intense and to be the player who can go head-to-headlike the good players in this league. And more so than any one else returningI think that Nicole Ohlde has presented that to the fullest.
Kristin Rethman is a very stable player. You know what you are going to get from Kristin. You know that you are going to get that excellent three point shot and you knowthat you will get that steady influence on the floor. I think that brings agreat deal of assurance and confidence to the younger players. There isn't anuncertainty of how are things going to be done or get done from Kristin. Ireally look at those two players at this point in time early in the season asprimary leaders. Both however, are leaders by example and the personality ofthose two is also the personality of our team at large. They tend to be quietindividuals that speak volumes by virtue, work ethic, intensity and theirabilities."
Expectations of Nicole..."I don't think that we could have envisioned her having the kind of year thatshe did. I looked at Nicole as a young lady that had some very special toolsand abilities and good basketball skills. As we watched her in individualworkouts day in and day out we began to become more and more impressed, butonce you step out onto the floor and have to compete that truly is the test.Our expectation is that she would come in early in the season and we hadalready specified that she would be a starter, but beyond that I don't know ifwe had any great vision that she would make that impact that she hadultimately made. I think that was a day to day progressive situation that shewould assert and improve herself and she did so in a very mature fashion."
On Kendra Wecker..."I think that it is very realistic to think that Kendra will bring greatintensity and athleticism to the floor. I think that will be her field andparticularly in her ability of making us a better rebounding club. When I lookat Kendra the expectation of what we have for her is her ability to attack andto give us a different personality and presents on the board. The rest of hergame will continue to expand and develop on the way, but I certainty look toher to make an impact in that area in particular. She is also someone who willbring us versatility because of her ability to score on the board as well asher back to the basket. She has a lot to learn with her back to the basketright now. She is a young lady that by virtue of her dominant athleticism ofher girl's high school game is going through a period of adjustment as sheplays against college level players that size and strength. I think that hergreatest lesson will be learned in the paint making those back to basketmoves. Her perimeter game is expanding and her rebounding truly is somethingthat is special."
On what Kendra bring to the game..."It's really special to watch Kendra's willingness to be explosive. We haveseen that in individual workouts and in the early days of practice. Our teampractices rebounding at a higher level because of the energy and intensitythat she brings. That's an area where we need great improvement. We aren't agreat rebounding team it was a high point emphasis for us. The point remainsthat we were not a great rebounding team a year ago and we are better todayalready than what we were last year. I am extremely excited about that fact."
On it being a challenge of working with high school super athletes..."With this group it's not difficult at all, instead it's a specialopportunity. I say it's not difficult because these are team first players.They are extremely unselfish and extremely competitive. They are here becauseof their intention of putting K-State basketball program on the national map.They understand in our commitment in doing that together and the value ofteam. The only concern, I have at all, in bring this great talent together isthat no one of those players differs to another relative to their intensityand aggressiveness. If anything, we tend to be a nicer team at times than whatwe will like them to be. So I don't have any worries on those lines. I amextremely encouraged and thrilled to finally to be bringing in players of thatcaliber and the thought of having them together is very special. I think thatit moves on the horizon that we will be a special team because of that."
On having pressure on herself..."No actually, I feel a lot less pressure because of the fact that we haveplayers in the gym now who have a confidence as competitors who bringbasketball experience to the table. It's a situation where it's fun to watchplayers make decisions on their own and not in every situation feeling theneed to onus, to think the next thought, is extremely exciting to me to seethat talent and to watch players having the ability to create some on theirown. I am more than thrilled about what I see on the prospect of having someof these athletes in the program for the next four or five years."
On the team changing..."We are changing a great deal. The approach we are taking on the offensive anddefensive ends of the floor. We're more athletic because we have players whocan make individual plays. We also have players who have great overallinstinct and ability relative to making reads taking what the game gives them,having the confidence of finishing a play, having an aggressive mindset and assuch it puts in a situation allowing them to create more and make thedecisions. I think that you will see a team that can get the floor at agreater level than before and to make easy baskets because of their ability torun. In term of their scheme, I think you will see more creative plays asopposed to trying to run a shooter off of three or four screens in a course ofany 30-second possession to get a wide open shot. I think that you will seeplayers who can shoot over defense and make shots and again, because of ourability to rebound the ball at a higher level I think that you will seeplayers respond better and more athletically better to misses. All of thatreally creates a situation where I believe we can play with less structure andwith more freedom for our players individually to make choices each time upthe floor. Defensively, I believe that we will more effective in extending thefloor, we're more athletic because we can cover ground and that is everycoach's dream to be more aggressive on the defense side of the floor. Beingable to trap more to extend the floor to close out, we're going to be a lotmore aggressive."
On non-conference schedule..."On our non-conference schedule is very challenging and we look forward tothat challenge. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of ourfirst away game, our opener against Georgia Tech. We are opening up against anACC ball club who placed in one of the best leagues in our game. We are alsoopening up on the road with a lot of freshmen. I am looking forward to playingthat caliber of opponent on the road early. We will bring Oregon State a verystrong ball club from the Pac-10 into Bramlage Coliseum in December and thatwill be a great challenge to our ball club early in the season. We playWisconsin-Green Bay a NCAA tournament team here at Bramlage. I feel that wehave a mix of league and a mix of great competition that will prepare us forthe intensity that we are going to see in the Big 12. I think that's criticalwe need to play some of those high caliber opponents in our non-conferencebecause when the Big 12 hits it hits with a bang. We open up on the roadagainst Iowa State and we follow up with a top five finisher in Baylor at theend of that week. We don't start slow when we start league play. When we goout to Loyola and then St. Thomas and play Arizona State we will be playing a NCAAteam. Richmond was very successful in their league a year ago. We will haveour challenges and I am looking forward to that."
On being ranked not high in the polls..."Well the Big 12 is the strongest league in the women's game. It was a yearago and it was in the preseason and I believe that it will hold truethroughout the season. One through 12 there is no game that is an easy game sothat is the great challenge of beating this league. We have three teams in ourleague that was the number two seats in the NCAA Tournament they didn't losepersonnel. Texas Tech, Iowa State and Oklahoma are returning all of their bestplayers so you don't expect them to skip a beat. We know that those threeprograms will be extremely strong. We had seven teams that qualified for theNCAA Tournament so when we expired to take steps in this league, we understandthat we do it playing most of those teams twice in our league and we will takeour steps one game at a time and one opponent at a time. I don't think thatit's realistic to expect us to take great leaps, but I do think that you willsee us improve every game out. I think that it's very realistic with thetalent that we brought in that we can challenge for an upper half finish inthis league. That will be significant because that means that we will bebeating programs like KU, Nebraska and Missouri so we have a great challengefor us in this league, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We belong hereand I think the group we have on the floor is here to show and prove that."
Player Quotes
Kendra Wecker, Freshman Forward
On transition from high school..."It's totally different than what high school is. We came in here the first day and everyone was excited and we just got things going. The competitiveness of the drills is just getting everybody fired up because we have things to work for. We do certain drills where we keep points and how many baskets we make in a certain amount of time and it's fun, I love it."
On what she's doing to improve her post game..."Just doing individual workouts in the beginning of the season. I mean, I worked with the guards and posts on different days and just learning some new moves. Being an undersize post player I'm going to have to do more than just turn around and shooting because I'm going to be undersized. They've been working a lot with me, with a countermove, you know going up, faking and then taking the ball hard to the hole, with my quickness and stuff."
On how the girls are helping her adjust..."They started off when we all came down here just getting us situated and having us organize our schedules and getting everything going. With Nicole, I've been talking to her a lot, about how the season goes and how tough it is both mentally and physically on your body. We're just going to do everything we can to do the best that we can and make the season a good one."
Laurie Koehn, Freshman Guard
On differences between this year's team and last year's team..."I think definitely we're a lot more athletic is one of the big differences, just a little taller perimeter players, a little more versatile I guess would be the main thing. Last year was a good group also, but we're going to be young this year, but it's going to be exciting to see what we're able to do."
On getting back on the court..."I cannot wait to get back on the court. It's hard to even think about goals other than I just want to play, it's like you used to set different kind of goals and now I guess my perspective has changed so much, I just want to be on the court and able to play the game."
On if it seems like it's been forever (since she's played)..."It does. It does, it seems like it's been a really long time. It's kind of nerve-wracking I guess to think about. Sometimes you worry about will I be able to do this or will I be able to do that because it's been so long, but regardless, even if I get out there and I'm terrible, I'm going to have fun."
On how close she is..."I don't know for sure, it's kind of a week-by-week thing. I just do whatever the doctors and the coaches and the trainers tell me to do and hopefully it won't be too much longer."
Chelsea Domenico, Freshman guard
On what the new group can bring to the team..."I feel the intensity level has definitely gotten better throughout practice. Just being able to take care of the ball and defensive mentality, I think we're a lot more, as freshman, just our focus and everything, just wanting to get out there and play and contribute as much as we can."
On coming together as freshman..."Right away when we came in, we all got along, just hanging out and stuff. There are no cliques on this team, so everyone just hangs out with each other. Us freshman, especially, have just totally come together and having the same type of goals, just coming into a whole different atmosphere, it was easier to relate to them."
On what changes she's noticed at this new level of play..."Definitely the intensity level. Obviously the talent goes up so much more in a D-1 level from high school. So, just having to work that much harder to try to get a position to play. Just every aspect of the game is totally different than in high school."
Megan Mahoney, Freshman guard/forward
On if she thinks the freshman could contribute right away..."Through the pre-season we've been learning new drills and getting a little chemistry with the other players and we see good things from everybody. There are a lot of scorers on this team and I think a lot of the freshman are going to be able to step up."
Kari Hanson, Freshman guard
On if there has been a steep improvement as they've learned more..."I think gradually as they put things in you just kind of learn things step by step. You don't realize how much the coaches know about the game until they point out every little thing you do wrong."
On biggest difference from high school..."The intensity and hustle. Everyone has to run after loose balls. You're emotionally into it, just clapping for everyone when they make a good play. In high school basketball you're just like, "Oh, you made a good play." You don't really care."
